Michigan hockey coach Red Berenson, shown playing for Michigan in 1962, turned 70 on Tuesday. (File photo)

With a tough home-and-home series against Notre Dame coming up this weekend, Berenson has bigger things to worry about than another birthday.

Even if it is No. 70.

So rather than accepting phoned-in well-wishes, the veteran Michigan hockey coach spent his morning in meetings, focusing on his team - and not on turning a year older.

"(The phone calls Tuesday) were reminding me (of the birthday) and I don't need to be reminded," Berenson said after Michigan's practice Tuesday at Yost Ice Arena.

"I thought you'd be old when you were 60 - let alone 70 - but I don't feel that way. I'm pretty lucky."

Berenson never figured his coaching career would last into his 70s. But with 25 years at Michigan under his belt, Berenson - who spent time with Montreal, New York, Detroit and St. Louis during his 17 seasons in the National Hockey League - hasn't reached the point of being ready to hang up his skates.

Fifty years older than most of his players, Berenson stays current, acquainting himself with the social networking sites his players frequent while also establishing a tolerance for the music that he hears blaring out of the Wolverines locker room.

Oh, he'd prefer to hear more country music and some of his favorites from Elvis Presley, but he feels he has a good connection with his team.

"When I got here (at age 45), I figured I was 25 years older than the average player," Berenson said. "Now, all these years later, they're still 20 and I'm older. It's different."

Yet, to see Berenson on the ice is to see a competitor able to show his players a thing or two. His players are quick to point out Berenson is one of the fastest skaters on the ice in practice and can handle the puck with the best of them. Despite the more than 4 decades that have passed since the night Berenson scored six goals in one game, Berenson cherishes his time around the game.

For all the years separating the teacher from the pupil, Berenson has no trouble instructing his Michigan team in the finer points of the game.

"He still has the drive and the energy like he's a 20-year-old," junior forward Carl Hagelin said Tuesday. "He could still play on this team. I don't see him as a 70-year old and I don't think he sees himself as a 70-year old.

"The only time he seems 70 is when you (hear about) all the life experiences he has and with everything he teaches us."

For junior forward Louie Caporusso, playing for Berenson is special - not only because of the knowledge Berenson passes down on a daily basis, but because of the place Berenson holds in the hearts of Caporusso's family members.

On a couple of occasions, Caporusso has been asked to secure autographs from his coach, who his family considers a hero going back to Berenson's NHL career.

"His record speaks for itself and his accomplishments speak for themselves," Caporusso said. "It's kind of cool having a coach that's a hero and who's been looked up to his whole life. Having an idol as a coach is pretty cool.

"But I don't think there's a coach out there coaching students at his level that knows as much as he does."

The sport itself and being around his players keeps Berenson young. He's always maintained he'll continue coaching on a year-to-year basis. He's the fifth Michigan coach to work into his 70s.

Former golf coach Thomas Trueblood (1921-35) coached until the age of 80 while baseball coach Ray Fisher (1921-58) retired at age 71. Swimming coach Matt Mann (1926-54) and wrestling coach Cliff Keen (1924-42, 1945-70) were both 70 when their coaching tenures came to an end.

So will Berenson know when it's time to hand Michigan's program over to his successor?

"I don't know that, but I hope I do," Berenson said. "I hope I realize that this is the best thing for the program, the best thing for me.

"I don't have that feeling that I'm hanging on or 'I better enjoy this because it's going to be my last day'. I think I have an appreciation for what's happened here, but I'm really not looking back and I'm not looking that far ahead. I'm just worried about Notre Dame."

Jeff Arnold covers Michigan hockey for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at jeffarnold@annarbor.com or 734-623-2554. Follow him at Twitter @jeffreyparnold.